Agreed tonyg! My problem was that I didn't want too many spoilers in the trailer, and that as it's a very short "short".......so I was limited by how many "darker" shots to put in....lol. Thanks for the tips though. One day I'll concentrate on making REAL trailers (as I'm a fan of them), and not just "fill in the blanks" with iMovie

The ornaments eyes are a killer. To me inanimate objects showing some sign of having a soul or intelligence like that is so much more supernatural than whole objects (or dead bodies, even) coming alive. Whilst the VFX are good, what i really admire is your very effective use of and cutting to the SFX and music.

Hey thanks Tim! Yes, this is my first go at "horror stuff", and you're right about visuals....they're all very pretty. But whilst making this little film, I've noticed the sound and music greatly enhances the shots. And oh yes, love Hitfilm's tracking stuff.........one can put eyes (or anything) anywhere

Thanks StormyKnight! Yes, as discussed earlier on, the music really enhances the scene beyond what you see visually, so it works well. As for "horror", I can take it or leave it...........this is just an excuse to do creepy VFX as opposed to my usual Sci-Fi stuff.....lol.

WedgeOz Like others have said, the tracking of the eyes onto the statue is great! It looks like you've put a lot of work into this and used a load of great techniques in the trailer. I'm really looking forward to see the full movie!

I found it scary but then again I have been divorced twice. Was it lightly inspired by Charles Dickens a Christmas Carol? For me there was some of that ghost of ex wives past happening. I truly enjoyed and I can just imagine how much work went into it.

Thanks for the feedback/comments guys . Yes, as Francis Ford Coppola once said.... "Always steal from the best". So I drew a few elements from several stories. Mainly of course though, I just wanted to do some scary visual effects. Much better I think than randomly blowing up aliens like I usually do....lol

Finally got around to watching the full piece (and the trailer). I was impressed with your earlier sample with the statuette's eyes, and the finished product didn't disappoint. Yes, there are things that could be improved with some of the technical aspects of the short — effects, audio, editing, etc. — but you absolutely NAILED the most important thing: the story. (Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't watched it yet.)

Great setup of the main character via the voicemails, photos, and elements of his coming-home routine. Great collection of "torture" moments as he's hounded by his past mistakes in various clever ways. And when that glowing, smiling figure came in and it felt like we were heading toward (as @BobDiMarzio pointed out) a Christmas Carol-style redemption ending, you switched it up and made him pay. I was engaged from start to finish, and really like the way it all played out. Bravo!

Paul, this is fantastic! Yiu really did a great job in setting up Adam as a truly unlikeable, petty and cruel person (which is tough as we're used to "Paul--space hero!"). A lot of really fun and creative shots here (I particularly like the overhead move over the phone at the beginning). Your VFX work continues to improve (higher percentage of hits vs misses in this), and the pacing/editing is tight.

Audio remains your biggest technical weakness, and is the next area to strive to improve, because you've got story, mood, and visuals down.

Is this still iPad and Hitfilm 2 Ultimate or have you upgraded your gear list? Some of those shots look like slider moves--so if those were stabilized handheld or fake moves in post, excellent!

Indeed I did try and do better camera moves and angles, and kind of made the VFX my secondary goal. And oh boy, some of the lengths I went to, to achieve them....lol. In one shot I actually unscrewed my wardrobe door, laid it down at table height...and used it as a flat surface so as to dolly my camera across it. And yes, where need be, I stabilized those kinds of shots later.

Yes, Hitfilm Ultimate 2 still until I upgrade my PC (hopefully this year), as I see so many cool things I could do with the later versions of Hitfilm. The mind boggles! But this time round I used my Samsung S8+ phone as a camera, as I found the picture and resolution so much better than my iPad (especially for all the indoor shots I did, which was 95% of the film). Whilst still not perfect, it sped up production as I wasn't wasting heaps of time bathing the scene in super bright lights all the time.